Following on our successful Winter Conference in January, the MABA team hit the ground running in February, with event planning, outreach to new members of the Michigan Legislature and Congress, and beyond. Here are a few highlights from February. Our top priority: Introducing you and your important work to new leaders in Lansing! The new Michigan Legislature took office in January and includes nearly 60 new members across both the House and Senate. This high number of new members, along with the change in control in Lansing, makes proactive outreach especially important. MABA has focused on getting to know new members, and highlighting for them the important work you do every day to fuel the $104 billion Michigan agriculture sector and grow our state’s economy. Since February 1, MABA has conducted or scheduled nearly 25 meetings with new and returning legislators, and Administration leaders, focusing on the agriculture and appropriations committees in both chambers. We are taking the opportunity to share background information on MABA, educate members about agribusinesses in their districts, answer their questions and ask how we can help them be successful. A big part of this has been offering our members’ expertise as these leaders consider issues facing our state. We truly appreciate the time offered by lawmakers and their staff during a very busy time! The Michigan Capitol was a familiar sight for MABA team members as we met with incoming legislators throughout February. Lansing Ag Club Breakfast is back in full swing for 2023 February 8 marked our first Ag Club breakfast of the year. The breakfast was hosted by the Michigan Soybean Association and Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee and welcomed nearly 100 MABA members, farmers, legislators and executive branch leaders. The group was able to meet and hear from the new Michigan Soybean Committee Chief Executive Officer, Ben Steyer. We return to the Lansing Radisson this month, with the next Ag Club on March 8, and another on April 26. We encourage you to join us for these networking opportunities! To register for March 8, go here. We appreciated the Michigan Soybean Association and Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee for hosting this month’s Ag Club Breakfast, the first one of 2023! MABA’s Grace Smith visits Africa in partnership with U.S. Department of State, MSU Alliance for African Partnership Last fall, many MABA members had an opportunity to interact with a professional fellow hosted by our association. Visiting from Rwanda, he was one member of a group of 12 entrepreneurs and ag professionals from Africa who spent October in Michigan learning about our agricultural sector. MABA was among several organizations in Michigan agriculture, including GreenStone Farm Credit Services and MDARD, to host a fellow during that program. This month, MABA Policy Assistant Grace Smith joined other Michigan ag leaders on a reciprocal delegation to Rwanda and Zimbabwe. While in Africa, Grace met with those who had previously spent time in Michigan, and provided an overview of Michigan agriculture in meetings with local entrepreneurs and agribusiness leaders in the partner nations. Many MABA members have become more involved in commercial, research and humanitarian efforts in Africa in recent years. We welcomed the opportunity to partner with MSU and the State Department to build bridges and help enhance two-way interaction between Michigan agriculture and the host nations. MABA Policy Assistant Grace Smith provided overview presentations of our sector and association in meetings with partners in Rwanda and Zimbabwe. Grace joined a delegation of Michigan ag representatives visiting Africa with support from MSU and the U.S. Department of State. MABA Leadership Group Heads to DC, Meets with Michigan Delegation and White House During our 2023 Washington, DC program, 10 members of the MABA Leadership Group met with national agricultural trade associations and government leaders on behalf of our industry. These included meetings at the White House, USDA, the Embassy of Canada and 12 Congressional offices. The group also appreciated the opportunity to sit down with the full majority of the staff from the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. Go here to learn more about this year’s members and our meetings in Washington! MABA Leadership Program members met with USDA leaders among many other visits during their visit to Washington in February. ICYMI, some other recent activities: MABA, Bean Commission leaders meet with Ambassador of Cuba to the United States Michigan Agri-Business Association elects 2023 officers, directors In the News: Michigan Democrats aim to tighten environmental regs, reduce industry control (Bridge Michigan – Includes MABA comments)
